Oil climbs on tanker attacks, US-Iran claims about Hormuz control

HOUSTON: Crude oil prices climbed on Friday over renewed attacks on tankers and a war of words between the Trump administration and Iran’s leadership.

Brent futures were up 80 cents, or 0.92%, to $87.87 a barrel at 10:48 a.m. CT (1548 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 43 cents, or 0.53%, to $81.69 a barrel.

Brent and WTI were on track for weekly gains of 5.09% and 4.37%, respectively.

Higher oil prices are a natural result of the latest U.S. approach to Iran, which implies little hope of a near-term resolution, said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB Research.

On Thursday, the U.S. said it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely and increase economic pressure on Tehran in response to stalled ceasefire talks.

“Watch this space for more announcements coming next week because we are going to apply measures like have never been seen in the history of economic isolation of a country,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Newsmax’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight” program.

“A return to normal flows out of the Strait of Hormuz is now suddenly without any near-term hopes,” Schieldrop said.

TRAFFIC SLOWS THROUGH THE STRAIT

As the U.S. and Iran made claims over control of the strait, shipping traffic through the channel fell below the month’s average.

Before U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran began in late February, the strait handled about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

Two vessels from the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company were attacked while transiting the strait on Thursday, the United Arab Emirates’ state news agency WAM said, an incident the UAE government condemned as an Iranian attack.

“That’s the headline that pushed up prices: Tankers attacked,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst for Price Futures Group.

Crude oil exports from Russia’s Sheskharis terminal at the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk were suspended on Friday following a drone attack, three sources familiar with the matter said, adding to disruptions at one of the country’s key export outlets.

Flynn said the Ukrainian attack on the port of Novorossiysk was also boosting prices.

While Middle Eastern supplies are constrained, OPEC forecasts pointed to weaker demand growth and U.S. crude inventories posted their largest weekly increase in more than 3-1/2 years.

“This week’s reports by the IEA and EIA were quite revealing. Storage is holding up much better than feared, which should pull oil prices lower,” said Norbert Rucker, head of economics and next generation research at Julius Baer, referring to the International Energy Agency and U.S. Energy Information Administration.